Frank Lampard is a natural match for Chelsea in their search for a new head coach, according to former Manchester City team-mate Vincent Kompany.
Chelsea were granted permission by Championship side Derby County on Tuesday to begin talks with Lampard, who is the overwhelming favourite to succeed Juventus-bound Maurizio Sarri.
Kompany spent a season playing alongside Lampard in 2014-15 and insisted that, despite the Englishman having just a year of managerial experience with Derby behind him, he is the only real candidate for the top job at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking at his presentation as Anderlecht s new player-manager on Tuesday, Kompany told reporters: Sign him up. He is the man!
Not only is Frank a great guy but someone who I learned so much from at…
Hat-trick hero Cristiano Ronaldo credited his team-mates after he led Portugal to a 3-3 Group B draw with Spain, although he acknowledged scoring a treble at the World Cup was a personal best .
The Real Madrid star opened the scoring in the fourth minute in Sochi, converting a penalty after club team-mate Nacho Fernandez was adjudged to have fouled him.
And Ronaldo put Portugal ahead again before half-time thanks to David de Gea s mistake, that strike following Diego Costa s first equaliser.
Ronaldo s 88th-minute free-kick then broke Spanish hearts after Costa and Nacho turned the game around for Spain and the Portugal captain said he was confident his team could go far in the tournament.
I am very happy, Ronaldo told reporters. It s a personal best wh…
Mikel San Jose said he is confident team-mate Aymeric Laporte will reject interest from the Premier League to stay with Athletic Bilbao next season.
Laporte, 21, has been heavily linked with a move to England, most notably to League Cup winners and Champions League semi-finalists Manchester City.
City were reportedly interested in activating Laporte s €50million buyout clause as they look to strengthen their defence under incoming manager Pep Guardiola.
However, San Jose who played for Liverpool s reserves between 2007 and 2009 is certain France Under-21 international Laporte will continue with the Basque club.
I am confident that he will continue with us, San Jose told Onda Vasca.
If I have to get wet, I get wet but I guess in footb…
Holders Germany sensationally crashed out of the first round of the World Cup for the first time since 1938 after losing 2-0 to South Korea, with VAR used to award two injury-time goals.
Joachim Low s side went into the game needing to match or better Sweden s result against Mexico, but they failed to break down Korea s dogged resistance and were undone at the last as Kim Young-gwon and Son Heung-min netted, while the Scandinavians romped to a 3-0 victory.
If World Cup-winning head coach Low thought his problems were behind him after a superb second half in Germany s 2-1 win over Sweden in their second Group F game, he was wrong, and the inclusion of Mesut Ozil in the front four did little to inspire his turgid team.
Korea, with nothing to play for but pride, g…
Luis Enrique announced he will leave Barcelona at the end of this season, bringing down the curtain on three years as head coach.
The first two seasons yielded eight trophies and there could be more to follow successes or failure to add to these highs and lows.
HIGHS
THE TREBLE
Completing a clean sweep of domestic league and cup, rounded off with Champions League glory, put Luis Enrique in rarefied company at the end of the 2014-15 season. He became the eighth coach after Jock Stein, Stefan Kovacs, Guus Hiddink, Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Jupp Heynckes to accomplish the feat.
The manner in which his swashbuckling Barca emulated the history-making exploits of Guardiola s 2008-09 vintage was truly something to behold. Their form…
Mauricio Pochettino believes Premier League managers should be invited to play a more active role in helping shape refereeing guidelines.
Chelsea have been involved in a number of controversial fixtures this season, most notably the frenetic 4-1 win away at Tottenham earlier in November in which Spurs had two players sent off, five goals were disallowed and VAR made nine interventions across a match that lasted over 110 minutes.
Pochettino has previously complained that the league’s request to meet with coaches in the week before the beginning of the season to discuss changes allowed little room for constructive input from managers and their clubs.
Training for Tyneside.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
The current campaign has seen a barrage of co…
Paris Saint-Germain s shaky start under Unai Emery continued as they were reduced to 10 men in a 2-0 Ligue 1 defeat to in-form Toulouse on Friday.
Serge Aurier was sent off just after the break for PSG, the right-back capping off a poor display against his former club as he received his marching orders for a needless foul on Ola Toivonen.
Yann Bodiger duly put Pascal Dupraz s side ahead from the resulting penalty, though Toulouse had their young goalkeeper Alban Lafont to thank after he pulled off a string of excellent stops to deny Edinson Cavani in the first half.
PSG, who would have gone top of Ligue 1 with a victory, pressed hard for a leveller, but Toulouse made their numerical advantage count, Jimmy Durmaz – on as a substitute – pouncing onto Thia…
England legend Wayne Rooney believes Lee Carsley deserves his chance to lead the Three Lions on an interim basis next month, but he still feels Pep Guardiola should be the Football Association s top target.
On Friday, the FA confirmed England Under-21 boss Carsley would take over as interim head coach of the senior side ahead of next month s Nations League fixtures.
The Three Lions face the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on September 7 before hosting Finland three days later.
The FA has pledged to undertake a thorough recruitment process as they seek a replacement for Gareth Southgate, with the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Graham Potter and Eddie Howe linked with the role.
Some have suggested Carsley could remain in charge until next year if the FA approa…
Joaquin has signed a one-year contract extension with Real Betis, which will see him stay with the club until he is only a few weeks short of his 40th birthday.
The veteran former Spain winger s new deal for the 2020-21 season was announced by Betis on Thursday.
Joaquin, who turns 39 next July, became the oldest player to score a LaLiga hat-trick earlier this month, grabbing three goals inside the first 20 minutes of a match against Athletic Bilbao.
When he plays his next game after LaLiga s winter break, he will have represented Betis in three different decades.
He first represented the club from 2000 to 2006 and went on to play for Valencia, Malaga and Fiorentina before returning to Andalusia in 2015.
38 year-old will be a player until …
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Two sides who find themselves battling it out at opposite ends of the Championship table, Watford will make the trip to Huddersfield on Saturday afternoon.
Huddersfield
Starting with the hosts, while Huddersfield might have shocked many as they reached the play-off final last season, the Terriers have rather publically come crashing back down to earth this time around. Marking their return to Championship duties last weekend as they were hit with a 1-0 loss away at promotion contenders Sheffield United, Mark Fotheringham s men find themselves at the heart of a relegation scrap. Sat rock-bottom of the table and already six points adrift of finding a route out of the drop zone, the Yorkshire-based outfit are enduring what has quickly b…